The latest hot Roadrunner videos for you to check out on your TV screen at your earliest convenience! Finch ‘Worms Of the Earth’ is now added to Kerrang TV (selection #331). DevilDriver’s ‘I Could Care Less’ is up on Scuzz.

So, everyone knows that the Clown in Slipknot is Shawn Crahan. And now everyone should now know that Shawn’s latest project (with Brandon Darner and Stevan Robinson) is called To My Surprise. But did you know that if you are in Top Shop from now until November 7th, you might actually catch the supremely cool and ecletic new To My Surprise video for ‘In The Mood’ playing on the Top Shop instore screens? True. The next time you are shopping, the Clown could be watching.

The new DevilDriver record is indeed great. Don’t take our word for it though, check out this Album Of The Month review from Metal Hammer’s new issue, which hit the streets today. DEVILDRIVER DEVILDRIVER [ROADRUNNER] IT’S a funny old game this music biz: one minute you’re THE band of the moment, looking and sounding like the coolest motherfuckers on the planet… The next, you’re just a bunch of hammed up, heavily tattooed jokers, upstaged by a nine men from Iowa, who dress even more ludicrously than you! And that’s the position Coal Chamber found themselves in a few years back when they went from being a real breath of fresh air in a scene dominated by denim-clad dinosaurs, to self imploding, style over substance alsorans. So, with his new band DevilDriver freshly assembled, it’s time for ex-Coal Chamber frontman Dez Fafara to cut the crap, and deliver the goods, or forever take his place in the ranks of rock’s long list of bands still Missing In Action. But already it’s time to say fair play to the man – who many called Coco The Clown behind his back – because he’s stepped up to the platter in a way you would not believe! Dez has not so much remortgaged his soul with the Bank Of Satan for a second stab at stardom, but he’s also traded his lungs in with Ol’ Nick for some shiny black demonic ones too! Album opener ‘Nothing’s Wrong?’ is a million miles away from anything Coal Chamber have ever done, and from the opening chords of Evan and Jeff’s screeching Judas Preist-esque riffing, combined with Fafara’s disembodied, gutteral growl, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was the new Arch Enemy record rather than the latest offering from a former self-confessed purveyor of spooky core! “Don’t you know my lives are on trial now / And if we lose we’re going straight to hell” snarls Dez on cynic baiting ‘I Could Care Less’ as it’s eerie refrain serves as a stark contrast to the chugging bass riffs and blastbeat drumming of fourstringer John and sticksman Johnny B respectively. while the second verse begins with “You must excuse me because I’m someone else”, yes you certainly are Dezmond! And you can tell Dez has actually tracked down the albums of the death metal bands he so frequently throws into conversation these days: ‘Die (And Die Now)’ is pure Cradle Of Filth, and while the lyrics are subsequently more retard than Mr. Filth’s highbrow littery gobbledegook, it’s untimely more listenable than anything CoF have ever done. But even when the quintet unexpectedly slip headlong into Coal Chamber territory on tracks like ‘Cry For Me Sky’ and later on ‘What Does It Take (To Be A Man)’ and ‘Revelation Machine’ (cool tribal drumming a la ‘Chaos AD’-era Sepultura by the way), it’s forgivable. And by the time you hit ‘The Mountain’, you’ll actually applaud it! The excellent ‘Swinging The Dead’, which made it’s debut on the Freddy Vs. Jason, is destined to be a cult classic, while ‘ Meet The Wretched’ is reminiscent of Brit bruisers Napalm Death circa ‘Fear, Emptiness, Despair’ and is just so heavy it hurts! And closing the whole sordid affair is the two-and-a-half minute rifffest that is ‘Devil’s Son’ which opens with Dez screaming “FIRE!!! I am the one, I am the one that you need, I am the one, I am the one that you need’ over chugging guitars and a pounding rhythm section, and as the final chords come to an abrupt end you’re left thinking “yeah Dez, you are”! DANIEL LANE [8]

Well, Dez is back…and the music is black. DevilDriver, the band’s self-titled killer debut is out now. If you haven’t yet, check out www.devildriver.com/album to hear the goods. You can pick up the CD for around 퉌£11.99 from the following retailers: HMV – 퉌£2 pounds off with your ‘Download 2003’ discount card, VIRGIN, MVC, MUSIC ZONE, OFFICIAL ‘ROADRAGE’ STORES – Free ‘New Shit’ sampler CD when you buy the album from one of these stores. Oh, and a message from Dez: We’re 500 miles from Boston, picked up a $3.99 Black Sabbath ‘Children Of The Grave’ tape at the last truck stop. We’re jammin’ that right now. We’re on our way to Boston to hang out with my guitar player Jeff’s parents…and, of course, to go to Salem for Halloween. This Friday afternoon (31/10) DevilDriver is going into WAAAF (107.3 FM) in Boston for a live interview with Mistress Carrie, who has been a long time friend of mine. Check it out if you can. In about 24 hours, we should be eating homemade Shepard’s Pie, and from what I hear, the Kendrick’s have about 2 bottles of Crown Royal waiting. Signing off for now, doing 70 mph down some highway… –Dez

Just a line to inform you – amongst your web travels, check out THIS LINK at VH1.com. There you will find an interview with the full band for your reading pleasure, and if you are so inclined, you can watch said interview too. True.

Catch up with the latest news on Hatebreed with a brand new feature coming in Rocksound out on the 19th of November & Total Guitar on 17/11. If you can’t wait until then, you can learn a little more about Jamey Jasta in the next issue of Metal Hammer (out Oct 29th) in the My Life Story section! Did You Know? Hatebreed are currently out on the road in the US with the awesome Slayer. If you’re lucky enough to be over there at all (we can wish) here are the dates (yes, in US format especially as well): October 10/28/2003 : Egyptian Room at Murat Center – Indianapolis, IN 10/29/2003 : Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL 10/30/2003 : Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI 10/31/2003 : Orbit Room – Grand Rapids, MI November 11/1/2003 : Headliners – Toledo, OH 11/2/2003 : Bogart”s – Cincinnati, OH 11/3/2003 : Rafters – Johnson City, TN 11/4/2003 : Norva Theater – Norfolk, VA 11/5/2003 : Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA 11/7/2003 : The Masquerade – Tampa, FL 11/8/2003 : Backstage @Sound Advice – West Palm Beach, FL 11/9/2003 : House of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL 11/11/2003 : Verizon Wireless Theater – Houston, TX 11/12/2003 : Nextstage @ Prairie – Grand Prairie, TX 11/13/2003 : Sunset Station – San Antonio, TX 11/14/2003 : Austin Music Hall – Austin, TX 11/16/2003 : Denver Coliseum – Denver, CO 11/17/2003 : Salt Air – Salt Lake City, UT 11/18/2003 : House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV 11/20/2003 : Mesa Amphitheater – Mesa, AZ 11/21/2003 : 4th and B – San Diego, CA 11/23/2003 : The Warfield – San Francisco, CA 11/25/2003 : Moore Theater – Seattle, WA 11/26/2003 : Roseland Theater – Portland, OR 11/28/2003 : Ventura Theatre – Ventura, CA 11/29/2003 : Universal Ampitheater – Universal City, CA

Roadrage is back from Thursday! Chimaira, Ill Nino, and Spineshank return for their second run of UK dates, so we hope you have your tickets ready! Don’t forget that Scuzz TV is running the monster Roadrage raffle to win all sorts of goodies and a meet & greet with the band at every show on the tour, so be sure to check it out and enter quickly! And speaking of Scuzz TV, watch out for their Big Tools & G Strings features running with Spineshank’s Tommy & Mike at the moment! And, if you are “oop norf” be sure to head to one of the Chimaira instores! Meet the guys & get your stuff signed before they take to the stage!

So, the almighty new Machine Head album ‘Through The Ashes Of Empires’ is now in all your local music shops, and by crikey is it a corker. For the love of riffs, we suggest you pick it promptly, for the limited edition double CD version is flying off of shelves as we type. Check out some rather brilliant reviews in the Machine Head PRESS section if you haven’t already! And to celebrate it’s release yesterday, the band have unveiled a brand new website.. still located at www.MachineHead1.com we suggest you take a look. Maybe even say hi to the guys on their messageboard. Over here at RR UK, we’re celebrating by offering the first 50 downloaders EVERY DAY a brand new, completely FREE, polyphonic Machine Head ringtone for your mobile phone. If you aren’t one of the first 50 each day, you’ll get a window telling you to come back the next day to try again (so no hidden charges there, fear not.) Very cool tone it is too… grab yours at our new ringtones site www.RoadTones.co.uk. just click on the link for ‘free ringtones’ when the site launches. Not only that, Machine Head kick off their European tour this Friday, Halloween, in Dublin…. order your gig tickets before they all sell out!

The mighty Robert Flynn of Machine Head will be appearing on the XFM Rock Show this Saturday night – so be sure to tune in your radio for there is free Machine Head prizes on offer! The Rock Show is on air Saturday night from 9 – 11pm or you can check out their website at www.xfm.co.uk. Don’t forget to enter our Machine Head Dublin competition too… winner being drawn early next week!

“The evidence: The Darkness’ world domination. The recent AC/DC comeback. It seems old is good again. That goes double for Machine Head who dole out the finest in aural incineration with a firm return to their roots….” Read the rest of this awesome review from Scuzz of Machine Head’s new album ‘Through The Ashes Of Empires’ HERE. Deo2 have recently posted a cool interview with Robert. Below is an excerpt… but you can read the full piece HERE. “í¢ä‰åñFear, yes a lot of songs deal with it,í¢ä‰åŒ Flynn pronounces in his deep tones. í¢ä‰åñFear that let’s you free yourself from the fear kind of thingí¢ä‰åŒ_ There is anger and wish to revenge, it is like drawing a line: there is what I can accept and there is what I like but this is what I don’t like, don’t accept and don’t want any part of it. There are a lot of times when people make decisions based on fear and I reached the point in my life when I used to be like that.í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åñI used to be feeling fear, like what people are thinking about me, making decision and writing songs, in a lot of ways I have had time to experience it but also transcend that and not feel so concerned but feel free to express yourself truly. Everything we do in life is about feeling insecurity and the thing is that I write about that, my own personal experiences, but also saying to the listener to inspire them to do the sameí¢ä‰åŒ_ I wish somebody had told me that when I was younger.í¢ä‰åŒ” T.T.A.O.E. is out on Monday.